Big brother wants all your bits and bytes

Dylan Welch

THE federal government wants your personal internet data, and they don't want to have to apply to a court to get it.

Revelations that the federal government wants Australia's 400-odd internet service providers (ISPs) to log and retain customers' web browsing data, so law enforcement can access it during criminal cases, have sparked alarm in the industry.

Currently law enforcement needs court-approved search warrants before they can record someone's personal data via their ISP. The proposed regulation would mean companies would be forced to store certain information for several years just in case it was later needed.

''Once you store that information you increase the risk of abuse,'' a source who works for an ISP said.

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''We can put our hands on our hearts and say we're good guys and we don't do anything wrong, but can we say that of every other player in the market?'' the source said. ''Compliance would be a big question.''

The proposed regulation was broached with industry late last year during consultations with the Attorney-General's Department and is believed to still be in its early stages.

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The spokesman for internet rights group Electronic Frontiers Australia, Geordie Guy, said it was ironic that the government was trying to encourage ISPs to retain data at the same time that it was chastising Google for doing a similar thing.

''The Attorney-General's Department has instructed the AFP to look at Google and their conduct in terms of sniffing wireless data … how they can expect to have any credibility when they are looking at instructing ISPs to do exactly the same thing, I'm not sure,'' Mr Guy said.

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The government's plans were revealed yesterday in an article by online tech magazine ZDNet.com.au.

Australia is not the first country to consider compulsory data retention for its ISPs, and in 2006 the European Union adopted a policy that required some states to retain data for between six and 24 months.

The Attorney-General's Department yesterday confirmed in a statement it was looking at the new regulation.

''The Attorney-General's Department has been looking at the European Directive on Data Retention, to consider whether such a regime is appropriate within Australia's law enforcement and security context.''

A spokesman for the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, denied they would be looking to capture browsing history or data within emails.

''The consultations relate to the information to identify the participants in crime networks and terrorist organisations,'' he said. ''It does not include the content of a communication.''